254 



THE PARMEIiS CABINET. 



VOL. I. 



cannot every fhrmer with a triflinfr expense, 

 furnish himself with machinery for makinL' 

 Bugar for his own consumption ? 



Silk Advocate. 



The following- communication was read 

 before the Horticultural Society at its last 

 meeting, and ordered to be published in the 

 Farmers' Cabinet. 



To the Horticultural Society of Pennsyl- 

 vania. 



Blight in Pear Trees. 



From a series of experiments I have been 

 enabled to check the blight in my pear trees 

 for a number of years, by finding the disease 

 to originate from the root; which being of a 

 very porous or spongy nature, absorbs mois- 

 ture very rapidly, and if the wood of the pear 

 grafted thereon, be also of a porous nature, 

 a rapid growth is the consequence, which is 

 the reason why such pear trees outstrip others 

 of a more close, or compact wood. The lat- 

 ter I find do not blight to as great a degree 

 as the former. 



The pear tree requires a soil that is of an 

 even, cool temperature of moisture; the sud- 

 den transition from dry to wet, and wet to 

 dry, predisposes the tree to blight. Other 

 cases occur when the tree has been in con- 

 stant tillage, with a sudden transition of the 

 sward, always terminating in blight in a 

 more or less degree. 



I have observed the blight attack them 

 after being accustomed to stand in sward by 

 a sudden cultivation by tillage, — that in all 

 cases the pear tree does best by keeping the 

 ground cool, and in an even temperature of 

 moisture. 



Many other fruit trees will bear all the 

 sudden transitions from wet to dry, and dry 

 to wet, with tillage, and without it ; but not 

 80 with the pear, — the sap flowing through 

 the porous pear roots rapidly in the spring, 

 and then suddenly checked by drought, causes 

 the blight, — and the sudden flow of the sap 

 in summer, after having been checked, will 

 generally cause a quick progress of the blight. 



I would therefore recommend that the roots 

 of the pear be kept in an even and cool tem- 

 perature of moisture, from the 1st of May 

 to the 15th September, by covering the 

 ground with hay, stones, bricks, &c., three 

 to four feet further out than the roots con- 

 tinue to extend, — so thick as to prevent the 

 growth of the grass. 



The black spots in the wood of the part 

 diseased, originate from an overplus of sap, 

 and are the eflfcct, and not, as many suppose, 

 the cause of the disease. 



The pear tree ought never to be luxuri- 

 antly pruned, but moderately every year in 

 July or August, in a dry time. My attention 

 has been for a number of years employed in 

 the cultivation of fruit trees, and I am niduced 

 to believe that we can be moving onward 

 in other things besides internal improvements. 



Any way tliat the rapid growth to a me- 

 dium can be effected, and so restrained from 

 spring to fall, will be conducive to the lon- 

 gevity of the pear tree. 



I have seen the pear do well on quince, 

 thorn, and apple. The blights not attacking 

 them as when grafted on pear. The root of 

 the pear is more spongy and absorbs the 

 moisture more readily than the quince, thorn 

 and apple, causing the difficulty of keeping 

 the pear to the requisite medmm on pear 

 roots. 



1 have observed other fruit trees afl^ected 

 with blight; on examination, the wood of 

 such were soft and very porous; when in a 

 wet time, having had an overflow of sap, 

 which caused a surfeit or blight. The more 

 hard and compact the wood is, the less lia- 

 bility there is of blight. The sickel pear is of 

 this description, and will not require that at- 

 tention in guarding against the disease as 

 some others. 



When the roots of the pear are compact 

 and less porous than ordinary, the hot ground 

 with much rain has not that eflect in blight- 

 ing; which is the reason some trees have 

 not been known to blight. 



In a general conclusion on the subject, ^ 

 the ground should be kept cool through the 

 summer, when an excess of rain will not or 

 rather cannot cause or create the aforesaid 

 disease. 



I shall at some future day communicate 

 some other remarks on the aforesaid subject, 

 which I deem not essential at this time. But 

 have thus early in the season thrown before 

 you the foregoing, in order for the preserva- 

 tion of the fruit in question. 



Very respectfully, 



Samuel Reeve, 



Proprietor of the Salem Nursery, N. J. 



Fat Cattle. — In the earlier period of the 

 last century, the gross weight of the cattle 

 sold at Smithfield did not, on an average, ex- 

 ceed 370 lbs. and that of sheep 28 lbs; 

 whereas, at present, the average weight of 

 oxen is estimated at about 800 lbs. and that 

 of sheep at 80 lbs. 



The new Silk Factory at Dedham, Mass, 

 is connncncing operations. When in full 

 operation it will run 1000 spindles, and em- 

 ploy 100 females. 



